1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to the field of mailing forms and more specifically to mailing forms, which can be folded to include a document securely situated inside the mailing form when in folded form.
2. Description of Related Art
As technology progresses, the business office is becoming more and more automated. Faxes, file servers, email, teleconferencing and cell phones have revolutionized the way firms do business. Mailers, in particular, have enjoyed increasing popularity. A mailer is a consumable paper product that allows for quick and easy printing and mailing of information. A mailer can include an envelope, an insert and a return envelope, which may be created by folding the original document. For example, mailers are used to send account statements, invoices, checks, and tax forms to customers and employees of a business. The commonly owned U.S. Patents and U.S. Patent Application described above provide more information on mailers. A mailer allows a firm or business to print directly onto one product all of the information necessary for mailing to a customer, client or employee. This is advantageous as it eliminates the separate printing of an envelope, an insert and a return envelope, as well as the need for the insertion of the return envelope and the insert into the envelope. Mailers, however, do not come without their drawbacks.
One problem with the use of a mailer is producing the mailer. Mailers often require folding and sealing before sending out. Current folding/sealing machines are bulky and costly. Thus, businesses are forced to buy additional equipment, apart from software and printers, in order to produce a mailer. This is cost prohibitive for many businesses. Therefore, a need exists to provide a cost effective method of producing mailers for small and medium businesses.
Another problem with the production of mailers is that current business form printing software requires duplex or multiple pass printers. This is disadvantageous, as the current installed base of printers substantially comprises simplex or single pass printers. It would be advantageous for business form printing software to support the current installed base of single pass printers (simplex), as it is cost effective for those recipients to continue using their current printers, as opposed to purchasing new printers. Therefore, a need exists for a business form printing system that supports simplex or single pass printers.
Non-impact printers, such as laser or ink jet printers, are being increasingly used to provide a fast, economical, and convenient method of printing data on various media, including mailers. Multi-part forms, including envelopes in which documents are sent, together with the documents themselves, have been manufactured for use in impact printers. Such forms are typically assembled into webs with sprocket holes extending along one or both lateral edges to facilitate handling through a pin feed impact printer. Transferable coatings are selectively placed on one or more of the sheets making up the assembly, so that impact-printing forces are transferred to produce characters on intermediate document surfaces. This approach has further been modified to provide a remittance envelope, in which various materials, such as a check and a portion of the statement, may be returned to the organization sending the statement.
However, with the increasing popularity of non-impact printers, especially among small business organizations, the percentage of organizations having the impact printers necessary to use such multi-part forms is decreasing. Therefore, what is needed is a mailer configured for use with non-impact printers. However, by simply adapting the standard available technologies to produce forms that can be used with non-impact printers results in forms that do not have flexibility and the capability for efficient use with non-impact printers. For example, mailers produced by machine-fold and seal technologies available in the 1980s and 1990s were often burdensome or clumsy to open. A perforated strip had to be removed from at least three, and sometimes four, sides of the mail piece. At least two of these strips ran at right angles to the paper grain whereby perforations are least effective for providing a clean tear.
Furthermore, previously available mailers often must be processed through automatic folding/sealing machines to be used in a practical manner. Such automatic folding machines are examples of equipment not available to many small business organizations. Additionally, recipients of the prior-available mailers usually do not read opening instructions printed on the exterior of the mailer. This resulted in frustration on the part of the recipient as well as damage or destruction of the contents of the mailer. This is especially problematic when the contents include a check.
Furthermore, none of these previous embodiments described above allowed for printing of PC postage on a simplex printer. Each PC postage indicia is unique and therefore cannot be pre-printed.
Therefore, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art as discussed above.